Feed Me Friday
The sun is shining and I'm on a train headed for Boston. On the agenda? Tonight's Red Sox game at Fenway Park. (A pre-birthday present to myself.) Lady Gaga is pumping through my headphones, and I've been using the "down time" to make some backend changes to the blog and to read through some items in my Google Reader. Then it dawned on me that today would be the perfect day to launch Taste As You Go's revamped "Featured Fridays" series.
The name of the series has been changed to "Feed Me Friday". Every Friday (hopefully), I'll highlight a handful of posts from other blogs that I've read over the week and share my thoughts about them. This way, I can make sure that I'm keeping up with my fellow bloggers, some of whom are much more prolific than I am these days.
Is DIY Really Better?
I think we can all agree that making food from scratch is the ideal way to eat and the quality of that food is higher than anything you can buy that has been commercially manufactured or produced. But this blog post about making your own butter made me wonder whether some things are worth the effort.
My rate of consumption of butter is relatively low. I'm not a regular baker and I'm typically only cooking for one on most days. So I don't use butter all that often. If I were to make my own butter, I'd find it hard to judge how much I'd need to make for the week. (The post mentions that the butter will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.) I could see making homemade butter for a weekend brunch or a special occasion but not for everyday use.
Do any of you make your own butter? If so, how often do you make it? Is it possible to freeze homemade butter? Do you find that making butter from scratch from heavy cream and salt (if preferred) is cost-efficient?
Paper or Cloth Napkins?
Remember when grocery store clerks used to ask "paper or plastic?" before bagging up your items? These days, consumers are much more aware of greener choices and some stores offer their customers a discount if you use your own bag. I don't go anywhere in New York without my collapsible nylon tote bag.
I thought of the movement toward greener living after reading this survey from The Kitchn that asks readers whether they use paper or cloth napkins at dinner. When I completed the survey, I found it very refreshing to discover that I belonged to the group that responded with "cloth napkins". I first started using cloth napkins a few years ago, when my stepmother bought me a set and gave me homemade napkin rings to go along with them. Now, I actually prefer them to paper napkins and have stopped buying the paper kind altogether.
What about you? Do you use paper napkins or cloth napkins? Or do you belong to the group that admitted they don't use either?
Free Owl Recipe Cards
I've been a sucker for everything owl-related ever since joining my sorority in college. So I was thrilled when I found these free downloadable 4x6 recipe cards on my favorite owl-centric blog.
How adorable are they??
How to Blog?
Earlier this week, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen (one of my new favorite blogs, by the way), wrote an insightful post highlighting her tips for increasing your number of blog readers and for enticing more people to leave comments. Whether you're a blogging newbie or a seasoned veteran, I think Kristan's post a definitely worth a read!
Do you have any more tips you'd like to share about how to engage more meaningfully with readers? Let me know!
Okay, we're less than an hour away from Boston. It's time to wrap this us. Have a great weekend, everyone... And, Go, Sox!
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